In childhood, urine tests have to be taken more than once, and changes in indicators are alarming for both parents and the pediatrician. What can the salts revealed in children's urine tell us about, why do they get into the child's urine and what are they like?
What is it?
With the urine, various substances are excreted from the child's body, including salts. They are often dissolved and excreted in small amounts.
An excess of salts in a child's urine is dangerous with the risk of stones in the urinary tract, as well as inflammatory diseases (crystals can irritate the mucous membrane). When there are a lot of salts and they crystallize, you can notice the salts in the baby's urine without tests. In this case, the urine is cloudy.
Norm
In the general analysis of urine, the salts found in the sample are indicated by plus signs from one to four. The designation "+" or "++" opposite any kind of salt is considered a variant of the norm, if such a situation was single. If salts are detected in several analyzes of the child's urine, then the reasons for such changes should be sought.
In a baby
If the child is breastfeeding, then salts can appear when a nursing mother's diet is disturbed, for example, if the mother has eaten a lot of citrus fruits, mushrooms, chocolate, legumes and other products. Kidney disease and inflammation of the bladder can also cause salts in the urine of babies. To exclude them, the child is sent for ultrasound of the organs of the excretory system.
Kinds
All salts that can be detected in children's urine are divided into the following types:
- Oxalates. They are found in urine more often than other types of salts. The presence of this type of salt is characteristic for the disturbance of metabolic processes associated with oxalic acid. Oxalates can appear with inflammation of the tissues of the kidneys or intestines, diabetes, poisoning, and also with urolithiasis. In children, foods rich in oxalic acid, which are consumed in excess, often lead to their appearance in the urine.
- Urata. This is the name for the salts formed from uric acid. This type of salt stains the child's urine in a reddish-brick color and indicates a violation of the exchange of purines. These salts can get into the urine after a lot of physical exertion, due to dehydration, fever, diarrhea, eating excess meat, mushrooms, offal, fish.
- Phosphates. The presence of these salts is characteristic of urine with an alkaline reaction. This type of salt is found in children's urine with excessive consumption of foods containing phosphorus. Also, phosphates in large quantities are determined in urine, which stood for a long time before analysis. Among the pathological factors that cause the formation of phosphates in urine are cystitis, bouts of vomiting, fever, and hyperparathyroidism.
- Uric acid ammonium. Its crystals are excreted in the urine when a child has urolithiasis or uric acid infarction.
- Salts of hippuric acid. They can be detected in urinalysis in case of liver diseases, excessive consumption of plant products, prolonged use of antipyretics, diabetes, kidney stones.
- Calcium sulfate. This type of salt can be detected in diabetes mellitus, and also happens with excessive use of lingonberries, blackberries, blueberries, apricots and melons.
Causes
The main factors causing an increase in the excretion of salts in the urine are:
- Eating disorders.
- Congenital kidney disease.
- Chronic diseases.
- Problems with metabolic processes.
- Disorders of the excretory system.
- Bacterial urinary tract infections.
- Dehydration.
Diet
The nutritional characteristics of detecting salts in the child's urine will be determined by the type of salt. The recommended diet will differ in each case.
- With an increase in the amount of oxalates in urine, it is recommended to drink more, add cereals, cabbage, potatoes, seafood to the diet, and also take vitamins of group B. Spinach, chocolate, beetroot and celery dishes, sorrel, parsley, broths are excluded from the menu. You should also limit foods rich in ascorbic acid.
- With an increase in the number of urates it is also worth consuming a lot of fluids and taking cereals, fruits, eggs, pastries, vegetables, and dairy products as the basis of the diet. The menu will have to exclude meat, coffee and strongly brewed tea, offal, meat and fish broths, fatty fish, chocolate.
- With elevated phosphate levels should reduce the consumption of cottage cheese, cheese, sour cream, fatty fish, eggs, caviar, fatty yoghurts.
Drug treatment
With a very high content of a certain type of salt in the baby's urine, the doctor may prescribe medications, for example:
- Magnesium oxide, vitamin B6, vitamin A and vitamin E help to reduce the level of oxalates.
- You can reduce the level of urate with the help of drugs that affect metabolic processes.
- You can reduce the amount of excreted phosphate by taking drugs that reduce the production of gastric juice.
Prevention
So that there is no excess salt in the baby's urine, it is first of all important to pay attention to the baby's nutrition. It should be balanced and complete, with the content of vitamins that a child needs by age. Foods that provoke the formation of salts in the urine should be given in small quantities - not more than the norms recommended by pediatricians.
Because salt often causes dehydration, it is important to prevent this condition from developing. If a child has been in hot conditions for a long time, ran, fell ill with diarrhea, fever or vomiting, his water waste should be replenished in time.
